Sunday, June 8, 2014

87th Oscar Best Director Updates (2014-2015 Awards Season) (6/8/2014)

I’ve been slow to post predictions for the directors race for one reason: Angelina Jolie. The historical record shows that when actors take a turn behind the director’s chair, one of two things happen: Either they are shut out by the directors branch on nomination morning like Ben Affleck and Barbra Streisand, or the full Academy turns their nomination into an undeniable win like Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson.

So I’ve spent more time than is healthy in June trying to decide whether Jolie’s directing on “Unbroken” should be placed in the number one slot or the number six slot, without, to be honest, much consideration that she might land at number two through five. In the end, I’ve decided to predict her as the winner -- at least until we get some proof that the other contenders are as strong as they appear to be.

1. Angelina Jolie for Unbroken (Predicted Winner)

2. Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher

3. Paul Thomas Anderson for Inherent Vice

4. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman

5. Tim Burton for Big Eyes

Alternates:

6. David Fincher for Gone Girl

7. J.C. Chandor for A Most Violent Year

8. Christopher Nolan for Interstellar

9. Mike Leigh for Mr. Turner

10. Wes Anderson for The Grand Budapest Hotel

11. Stephen Daldry for Trash

12. Richard Linklater for Boyhood

13. Jean-Marc Vallee for Wild

14. Rob Marshall for Into The Woods

15. Clint Eastwood for American Sniper

16. David Ayer for Fury

17. Saul Dibb for Suite Francaise

18. Ridley Scott for Exodus: Gods And Kings

19. Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game

20. Jason Reitman for Men Women And Children

21. Tommy Lee Jones for The Homesman

22. Michael Cuesta for Kill The Messenger

23. Jon Stewart for Rosewater

24. Ned Benson for The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby

25. Woody Allen for Magic In The Moonlight

26. Todd Haynes for Carol

27. Thomas McCarthy for The Cobbler

28. Edward Zwick for Pawn Sacrifice

29. Clint Eastwood for Jersey Boys

30. Tate Taylor for Get On Up

31. Werner Herzog for Queen Of The Desert

32. Cameron Crowe for Untitled Cameron Crowe Project (aka Deep Tiki)

33. David Dobkin for The Judge

34. David Cronenberg for Maps To The Stars

35. Michel Hazanavicius for The Search

36. Daniel Espinosa for Child 44

37. James Gray for The Immigrant

38. Sarah Gavron for Suffragette

39. Damien Chazelle for Whiplash

40. James Marsh for Theory Of Everything

41. Justin Kurzin for Macbeth

42. Peter Jackson for The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies

43. Jonathan Teplitzky for The Railway Man

44. Ramin Bahrani for 99 Homes

45. George Clooney for The Monuments Men

46. Liv Ullman for Miss Julie

47. Alice Rohrwacher for The Wonders

48. Diego Luna for Cesar Chavez

49. Susanne Bier for Serena

50. Darren Aronofsky for Noah

As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!